Mayor, police chief arrested on drug, weapons charges in N.M. border town

(CBS/AP/KRQE) COLUMBUS, N.M. - In a small southern New Mexico village once raided and burned by Pancho Villa, federal agents have arrested the mayor, police chief, and a council member in a drug and weapons raid.

CBS affiliate KRQE reports 11 people were arrested Thursday in Columbus, which is 70 miles west of El Paso, Texas. They include Mayor Eddie Espinoza, Police Chief Angelo Vega and council member Blas Gutierrez.

The station reports the raid included agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

In 1916, Mexican revolutionary leader Pancho Villa raided and burned the town, which led President Woodrow Wilson to launch an unsuccessful pursuit of Villa by federal troops.